Potential for Pure Win: New SF Film (District 9)

[Lemur]

So this South African dude named Neill Blomkamp makes this trippy short about aliens slumming on Earth. Literally living in slums and tapping into the power grid illegally. Great short film, which you can see here: Alive in Joburg.

Well, this flick gets all sorts of attention, and the guy is pushed forward as the director for the Halo film, which doesn't happen, but here's where it gets cool: Looks like they made a feature film out of Alive in Joburg, which you can see here: District 9.

This looks like good SF, which is a rarity. Let me know what you think. Is it worth my while to get excited?

[Reverend Joe]

I... can't really tell what the hell's supposed to be going on.

[Lemur]

That's 'cause you're probably drunk.

[Aemilius Paulus]

Wow, that is brilliant. Superb. I love SF.

[Megas Methuselah]

Wow, it looks like you hit the jackpot, Lemur 'ole boy.

[KukriKhan]

The short is brilliant. Great find, Lemur You can see why Blomkamp got the nod for HALO. He'd have given that game-film genre the push it needs to do more story-telling.

[Reverend Joe]

That's 'cause you're probably drunk.

What I don't get is, why are they in the slums to begin with? Why not richer neighborhoods? And if they're capable of interstellar travel, why not just try to conquer the world?

Not that it's necessarily a bad idea, it's just rather odd.

[Lemur]

What I don't get is, why are they in the slums to begin with? Why not richer neighborhoods? And if they're capable of interstellar travel, why not just try to conquer the world?

Not that it's necessarily a bad idea, it's just rather odd.

Yup, it is odd. But I'll reserve judgment until I've seen where they're going with it. In the short, you hear an Afrikaans police official talking about how the aliens showed up in ships that are "completely dilapidated and run-down," so it looks like they've given some thought to it.

Anyway, it's the most original take on the alien invasion theme that I've yet seen.

[Jolt]

I found it brilliant since it takes a documentary approach, where the actors all seem to be really living the situation rather than playing something foreign to them. It really has the potential to be something great.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Oh my, that looks excellent.

CR

[Reverend Joe]

Yup, it is odd. But I'll reserve judgment until I've seen where they're going with it. In the short, you hear an Afrikaans police official talking about how the aliens showed up in ships that are "completely dilapidated and run-down," so it looks like they've given some thought to it.

Anyway, it's the most original take on the alien invasion theme that I've yet seen.

Oh, yeah, I'm not arguing it's not original; and I missed the "dilapidated" line, so that would be a good explanation.

@jolt: the documentary aspect is my favorite part of this movie.

[Lemur]

Here's some details from a guy who saw some completed footage (warning, potential spoilers):

We’re shown a shot of an alien ship hanging low in the sky. This caused gasps from the older theater owners behind me. The design wasn’t CLOSE ENCOUNTERS spectacular, but more Ridley Scott working, used ship, but the impact comes from Blomkamp’s ability to integrate effects. It’s bright daylight when we see this ship and it looks just as if you’d look out over the horizon one day and saw this thing in the sky.

It’s established that the aliens have been living among us, known to everybody, immigrants to this world and treated like such. Out of fear they’re essentially given one area to call their own, District 9. I got my first glimpse at the aliens themselves as a government agent serves an eviction notice to one of the aliens.

Again, Blomkamp doesn’t try to show off the effects or give the reveal a hero moment. The door opens and this bipedal creature maybe 8 feet tall walks out to meet the official and when served gets angry and slams the clipboard out of his hands, causing some craziness as he runs, jumping a great distance… his knees are backwards, like a dog’s knee.

Then we change focus a bit and follow a thirty-something reporter as he covers the mass evictions of District 9, saying that he believes the government’s only ever really tolerated these beings because they hoped to gain weapons technology from them and he believes the evictions are a sign of them looking. The guy is doing his report to camera and is showing a little canister with alien writing on it.

He holds it up to his face as he’s giving his report and a black mist sprays out of it onto his face, looking very much like an outtake on a regular news program.

We leave the camera as our POV, but keep the documentary style as the reporter goes about his life… but when he’s eating suddenly his nose starts bleeding. Black blood.

There are many flashes of him in the hospital and then in a (presumably) government research facility. Whatever sprayed into his face has changed him somehow. Not physically, but it’s clear something about his chemistry has changed and the government wants it.

So we get a little action as the dude escapes and flees to District 9, the only place he can find any sort of safe haven. We saw a bunch of aliens together, viewing this guy as an outsider still, I would venture to guess. Their eyes are strangely human, but on a very large scale.

Anyway, while there the reporter witnesses these creatures being abused by the authorities. He says to one of them something along the lines of “I had no idea this was happening to you” as we see police or army rifle butts striking alien faces.

There are also glimpses of the reporter in action, sweating black liquid, and firing a rather large gun at somebody, that doesn’t shoot a projectile it looks like, but rather energy that throws whoever he just shot back. I could be wrong on that, it was just a glimpse, but that was my impression. And yes, we do get the aliens putting on metallic battle suits, but they’re not as big or bulky as the ones in Joberg.

Alex Billington at FirstShowing.net loved the footage and has started comparing it to CLOVERFIELD, which isn’t super far off, but I don’t want the wrong impression. This is very much documentary style, but the whole movie doesn’t seem to be told from a cameraman’s perspective. Their wasn’t nearly as much shaky-cam going on and the production value was a bit higher than the consumer digital camera style of CLOVERFIELD.

Again, it was the grounded aspect I found most appealing. If this movie works or doesn’t, I think it’ll be unique, unlike anything else coming out this summer or this year. It looks to be a serious sci-fi flick with action and spectacle, but also carrying a heart and a brain.

Color me excited.

[Jolt]

The site is also very well made.

http://www.d-9.com/
Plus http://www.multinationalunited.com

Quite the backstory that are forming, eh?

[Megas Methuselah]

I found it brilliant since it takes a documentary approach, where the actors all seem to be really living the situation rather than playing something foreign to them. It really has the potential to be something great.

Yeah, I like that very much. It brings a greater sense of realism to the movie and allows you sink into it more than other movies.

I am also against the fact that you completely plagiarised my quote in your sig.

[Jolt]

Am seeing Halo's shorts. ...I can't say anymore then this

[I of the Storm]

This looks very very promising, thank you for sharing!

[Csargo]

I watched a preview for this when I went and saw the Wolverine movie last week. The preview didn't really make me interested in the movie. Just left me with a "what the hell is this" feeling, and generally annoyed me. After reading a bit about it though seems like it may actually be worth watching. Thanks Lemur.

[Jolt]

Since the original thread about the movie is no longer available, I decided to open a new thread to discuss the film as it nears its debut. [You just need to set the timescale of threads at the bottom left of the main Frontroom screen—Lemur]

For those of you who don't know two weeks ago, a new trailer was available. This shows hat there will be blood, and plenty of it, in District 9.

District 9 is based on a shortmovie made by Neil Blomkamp. It is the same Neil Blomkamp that is directing District 9, under the supervision of "Lord of the Rings" Director, Peter Jackson.

The original shortmovie Alive in Joburg

District 9 Official Trailer 1

*NEW* District 9 Official Trailer 2

I'm really excited to see the movie!

[Hooahguy]

i was wondering when someone would make a post about this movie.
i, for one, am very excited for this movie and i am really glad im 17 so i can see it by myself/with friends and not a parent to ruin the fun.
but the movie does make reference to a topic that would make this thread backroom material.

[Lemur]

Trailer #2 makes it look like a more conventional movie, which makes me want to see it less. I'm hoping for cinema verite SF weirdness, not another Michael Bay explosion festival.

[Tratorix]

Trailer #2 makes it look like a more conventional movie, which makes me want to see it less. I'm hoping for cinema verite SF weirdness, not another Michael Bay explosion festival.

Trailers can often vary, making good movies look bad and bad movies look good. I'm probably going to give this a chance, if only because there's been so little good sci-fi in the last few years.

[Hooahguy]

Trailer #2 makes it look like a more conventional movie, which makes me want to see it less. I'm hoping for cinema verite SF weirdness, not another Michael Bay explosion festival.

even so, i like the novelty of the situation. we usually hear of aliens bent on our destruction, but rarely, if ever, hear of us bent on the aliens destruction.

[Martok]

even so, i like the novelty of the situation. we usually hear of aliens bent on our destruction, but rarely, if ever, hear of us bent on the aliens destruction.

I'll admit that's a big part of why this movie intrigues me as well. It's a fairly unusual premise for a mainstream film.

I've still not decided if I'm going to watch it yet, but right now I'm definitely leaning that way.

[Lemur]

A new promotional video with some interesting details. Okay, okay, I'm excited about this movie again.

[LeftEyeNine]

It took me around 20 minutes to figure out that SF stands for "science fiction", not "street fighter".

Edit: I should've checked the links before reading all through the thread.

[Samurai Waki]

I have to see this movie now.

[LeftEyeNine]

Oh and this is a "revision" of the first trailer with the blur on the face of the alien removed and his speech subtitled.

[Lemur]

Review in, very positive. Contains spoilers.

The lack of studio intervention here is plain as day. No standard studio film would go as far as this goes nor do the things this film does to its characters. You have never seen a film like it before. You’ve nothing to compare it to. Nothing but other films that have no compare – like ALIENS, THE THING and 2001. [...]

This film is SMART. Incredibly smart. There’s so much going on at all times, so much to process, and so many well constructed little set pieces in the background that everyone walks out having focused on a few particular aspects – and the after film discussion as a result is riveting. DISTRICT 9 is a film that begs to be discussed. Sure people will toss out “wow”s and “****** awesome”s riddled with the occasional “how great were those special effects”, but that’s all before they begin grilling one another on what they thought about the aliens, the ending, the way the government reacted, the socio-political commentary, the small touches, the death scenes…hell, the brutality. This film is unflinching. It is harsh. And it’s going to send people in the lobby a little shell shocked and dying to talk about it.

This is the very type of sci-fi we’re always begging for; the type that imagines a completely different world than we’ve ever experienced. Despite comparisons, it is not V, and it is definitely not ALIEN NATION. The effects are incredible, even before you realize how little was spent on the film, and the impact is undeniable. This movie is a clenched fist ready to beat your psyche to a pulp, leaving you a bit punch drunk as you stagger out into the lobby to try and process it all. There’s so much (satisfyingly) unanswered that you’ll spend days sifting through what ifs and writing your answers to questions the film doesn’t feel needs to be answered. At least not yet.

[Jolt]

All the reviews and opinions so far I have read about District 9 are 100% unanimous. The film is spectacular. Since that is so, I bet 20th Century Fox is gonna allow Neil to resume directing the Halo movie, much to the pleasure of the Halo fans.

[Reverend Joe]

Review in, very positive. Contains spoilers.

The lack of studio intervention here is plain as day. No standard studio film would go as far as this goes nor do the things this film does to its characters. You have never seen a film like it before. You’ve nothing to compare it to. Nothing but other films that have no compare – like ALIENS, THE THING and 2001. [...]

This film is SMART. Incredibly smart. There’s so much going on at all times, so much to process, and so many well constructed little set pieces in the background that everyone walks out having focused on a few particular aspects – and the after film discussion as a result is riveting. DISTRICT 9 is a film that begs to be discussed. Sure people will toss out “wow”s and “****** awesome”s riddled with the occasional “how great were those special effects”, but that’s all before they begin grilling one another on what they thought about the aliens, the ending, the way the government reacted, the socio-political commentary, the small touches, the death scenes…hell, the brutality. This film is unflinching. It is harsh. And it’s going to send people in the lobby a little shell shocked and dying to talk about it.

This is the very type of sci-fi we’re always begging for; the type that imagines a completely different world than we’ve ever experienced. Despite comparisons, it is not V, and it is definitely not ALIEN NATION. The effects are incredible, even before you realize how little was spent on the film, and the impact is undeniable. This movie is a clenched fist ready to beat your psyche to a pulp, leaving you a bit punch drunk as you stagger out into the lobby to try and process it all. There’s so much (satisfyingly) unanswered that you’ll spend days sifting through what ifs and writing your answers to questions the film doesn’t feel needs to be answered. At least not yet.

Read the review, sounds impressive. But I was a bit nonplussed by his reference to Aliens; I always thought he accepted classic was Alien. I mean, Aliens is great and all, but it's just a basic action movie at its core; Alien was the truly inventive movie.